


He's Hooked

by strawnilla



Series: caught [2]
Category: End Roll (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, First Meeting, M/M, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-23
Updated: 2016-11-23
Packaged: 2018-09-01 17:32:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8632246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawnilla/pseuds/strawnilla
Summary: Tabasa wonders why he’s getting nothing but trash on his fishing line lately. A certain merman has the answer.





	

**Author's Note:**

> my first end roll fic. i cant even believe i did it in less than 6 hours. i never write this fast. who am i
> 
> anyways, please enjoy!! : 3

For the millionth time that day, Tabasa sighs.

Honestly, this is the most unusual thing to ever happen in his many years of peaceful living. In fact, nothing unusual ever happens in his life at all.

He’s not getting any fish.

His favourite fishing spot is his favourite fishing spot for a reason. It’s quiet and isolated, on a small hidden part of the beach where he can sit on the shingle and still be in the shade of the towering trees. Not to mention the amount of fish he can catch in a day. Sometimes he can lie on his back and fall asleep and still get a fish on his line when he wakes up.

But this spree of catching nothing but trash on his hook has been going on for a couple of times now. At first he brushed it off, thinking maybe it was just an unlucky day. Not like he didn’t get anything out of it either—his fishing time is a quiet time to relax after busy days working in the zoo.

Then the next time he went fishing, he still caught nothing but old cans and old boots. Why are there so many old cans and old boots in the sea anyways?

And this time, he’s even getting plastic bottles. Plus plastic old juice boxes. It saddens his heart to be seeing the pollution.

Tabasa feels a tug on his fishing rod and instantly he gets a bad feeling about it. He starts reeling it in nonetheless, not really getting a fight from the catch this time as well, and he’s not at all surprised to see that he’s gotten himself a child’s slipper.

The man takes the slipper out of his hook—how the heck did it get so deep in—and throws it into a plastic bag he had on hand with all the other trash he’s caught today. He figures since it’s his catch, it’s become his responsibility to dispose of the trash properly.

He casts off another line into the sea and sits down to wait. It feels like another forever has passed, and nothing else gets caught in his line. In the distant horizon, the sun is disappearing into the sea.

Scratching the side of his cheek, Tabasa decides to call it a day and reels in his line. He puts away his bait, his rod, and starts putting on his boots—because he likes wading in the water barefoot sometimes—when he feels something wet on the back of his green coat.

Uh, what? Did it start raining?

He turns around, expecting to see a dark cloud or something, and lets himself be surprised at the sight of a man smiling at him, with greenish-grey wavy hair, red eyes, and… are those white horns attached to his head, pointing downwards? Are they clip-ons?

Uh…

“Um.” Tabasa hears himself say. The other man’s eyes seem gentle as he gazes at Tabasa, and suddenly Tabasa feels awfully aware of his own appearance. It doesn’t help that the other man isn’t wearing a shirt—Tabasa can see it through the seawater, where he’s leisurely soaking most of his body in.

Did he swim all the way from the main beach?

With a hand pulling at the front of his hood, Tabasa tries again. “Were you the one who threw water at me…? If you are, that’s kind of—” he loses his ability to speak.

Is that… Is that a tail he sees swishing out of the water? A tail the colour of the sky, but darker? A… A giant fish tail? What?

His eyes unintentionally follow the tail’s curve, and he sees that it’s… connected to the hips of the man with the white horns.

His eyes widen.

Oh my God.

The tail swishes again, the water around it rippling. “Rude?” Tabasa hears the man say, his voice soft yet powerful. “Where I come from, it’s considered rude to stare at one’s tail for an extended period of time. Perhaps that makes us even, then?” there’s that smile again, and Tabasa’s positive his face is burning.

Nobody should be allowed to have a voice like that. It sounds like temple bells and birds in the summer.

“A-Ah, y-yes, I… suppose it does? I’m sorry, I’m not very familiar with…” Tabasa tries, “mermaid etiquette?”

The other man—merman?—merely keeps smiling. He doesn’t seem offended or whatever. Is that a good sign?

Honestly, Tabasa’s still trying to wrap his head around all of this. He’s also trying very hard not to look back at the tail. He finds that looking at the man with the red eyes doesn’t make things any easier either.

“You have no need to be so flustered. I do not expect any human to know the etiquettes of us merfolk.” The man says, his eyes reflecting the good humour he feels about the situation. “I’m called Kantera. And you are?”

The tail swishes again and Tabasa can’t help a glance at it. It looks so beautiful—shining and sparkling. For a brief moment he wonders if he can touch it…

He pulls his gaze back to the merman’s eyes. “T-Tabasa. Tabasa McNeil.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Tabasa McNeil.” Kantera is still smiling. Why is his smile so beautiful too?

Then the smile disappears into pensive line. Tabasa misses that smile immediately.

“Will I be seeing you again?” Kantera asks.

Tabasa blinks. “Huh?”

“You’re leaving, correct? Will you come back sometime soon?”

Tabasa looks around at his packed up gear and blinks again. He shakes his head a little to clear his thoughts and then nods. He thinks he must look crazy right now because of that, but whatever.

“Yeah. Yes, of course I’ll come back.”

Kantera looks relieved. “I’m glad. I was worried my teasing would discourage you from coming here again.”

Tabasa looks up at that. “Teasing?”

The merman chuckles. “Yes. I’m the one responsible for all the human material you have been acquiring through your rod. It was quite a joy to watch your reactions!”

Aaah, so that’s why he’s been getting nothing but trash. Tabasa can’t help but to smile. “You’re a cheeky one, aren’t you?”

Kantera puts on an innocent face. “I’m not quite sure what you’re talking about.” He says, laughing a bit more. Tabasa finds himself laughing with him.

“Well, I can’t say I hated it. Helps clean the place up, even if it’s just a little bit.” Tabasa says.

That gentle look returns to Kantera’s face as he gazes up at the squatting Tabasa. A few silent moments pass, the wind blowing around them and the waves lapping the shore. Tabasa feels like the look he’s getting means something, but he can’t exactly pinpoint… what.

At the next gust of wind, Kantera closes his eyes. The sun has almost completely disappeared behind the horizon now. He turns to move deeper into the water and says, “I shall see you again next time then, Tabasa McNeil.” He flashes a smile. “Take care.”

Before Tabasa can reply to him, the merman dives into the water and swims away.

The zookeeper stays to watch the dark shadow in the water disappear out of his sight. When he’s sure that Kantera’s really gone, he starts picking up his things in a daze and makes way to his car.

Later that night on his bed, Tabasa finds himself wondering whether or not he had dreamed all of that up.

Somewhere deep in his heart, he knows he didn’t. Somewhere in his heart, he knows that there’s a merman in the ocean. And that he wishes to see Tabasa again. And that the sound of Tabasa’s name coming from the merman’s lips makes him feel all fuzzy and warm inside.

Tabasa falls asleep with a smile on his face.

He’s looking forward to the next fishing trip.


End file.
